Improved key-hole guard



DAVID P. BIRD, or

tutti imite.

Rientro-0D; oHio.

Letters Patent No. 94,862, dated September 14, 1869.

IMPROVE!) KEY'J-HOLE GUARD.

i." I i The VSchedule referred to in these Letters Patent and makingpart of the same.

To all 'whom it 'may concern: i

Be it known that I, `DAVID P. BrRD, -of Richwood, in the county ofUnion, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and usefulSafety-Attachment to Locks; and Ido lereby declare the following to`be aclear and enact description of the nature thereof, suicient to -:enableothers skilledin the art to which my invention appertains to fullyunderstand and use the Isame, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, mak-v ing part of this specification, in which- Y 4 Figure lis a front view ofthe attachment in a `partlyelevated position. lFigure2 is a side view thereof', the lock being secured to adoor orelsewhere.`

Similar' letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twoiguresl My invention consists in so arranging the spring and guides, ina plate to cover a key-hole, that the slide may be released by simplymoving it to the side, withoutany manipulation of the spring, andinfurther strengthening the slide inits position by guide-pieces at itssides.

In the drawing- A represents one of the plates of a lock of ordinaryframe and construction.

To this plate I secure guides', a a, between which is'fittedaguard-plate, B, consisting of a flat piece of hard metal, by preferenceof steel, and adapted to slide betweenvk the guides. p

A shank, O,\is connected to the plate B', and has a series of notches, ec', on one or' both sides. o This shank is guided by a cross-piece, b,secured to the plate A, to which also is secured a spring, D, 'whichextends in the direction of the shank G, and one ot'lits ends bears on-thelatter so as to force it vagainst the inner'face of the oppositeside of the crosspiece b. Y f 4 The notches c c are so'located thatwhen'the guard-A plate B is in its highest position, that is, uncoveringthe key-hole, the notch c will be brought against a pin, p, wliichsecures the cross-'piece b in A place, or against the side of saidpiece, Iwhich must be so cast ,or constructed as to tit into thenotches,and with the pressure of the spring against the shank C, the plate Bwill be h'eld elevated.

.The notchc performs a function similar to the-` other notch when theplate is in its lowest position, in

order to prevent the elevation of the latter.

The guides a may be cast with the lock-plate A.

After the plate B is placed in position, the cross 4 piece b is rivetedto the plate B.

.The guides a may be shouldered on theirouter face, `in order to preventthe cross-piece from being riveted `too tightly over the shank of theplate B. f

The cross-piece assists the guides in retaining the plate B and shank Oin position, and prevents them from coming in contact with paint. Thespring works around the post opposite to the notches, and behind thecross-piece, and is held in position thereby.

The operation will be readily understood from the aforementioneddescription. The spring `D need only bereleased by pressing the shankagainst `it so as to free the notches o The guard-plate can then bereadily raised I and lowered, as desired. It will be seen, that when theattachment is applied to a lock, the latter to a doory or other intendedplace, the guard-plate is lowered, and there retained in position by thespring, as `previously explained. A key cannot be introduced into alock, the means of `accessbeing closed. The guards a a prevent thehorizontal displacement .of the plate B by the insertion of instruments,and said plate should ybe of such metal as to resist drilling, and allattempts to break or destroy its utility.`

In order to facilitate the operation or handling of the guard-plate, Ibend the upper end of the shank O to admit the ready application of thefingers.

In position, the guard is arranged between the lock and the wood-Work,as shown in iig. 2.

I do not claim a slide covering the key-hole, nor a spring for holdingit in place. Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v Thekey-holel slide or protector, in combination with guides and spring,arranged as described,l so that the slide may be released Without anymanipulation of th spring, as set forth. A I

The above signed by me, this 17th day of July, 1869. `Witnesses: DAVIDP. BIRD. WM.- W. Kinn,

W. H. FERGUSON.

